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Cargo Light Switch Question

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  caulk04 
#1 ·
My 2001 WJ recently died, and I'm now the proud owner of a 2010 WK. I've noticed that the WK has a crappy light for the cargo area that is mounted in the liftgate instead of the dome light I was used to having in my XJ, ZJ, and WJ.

The owner's manual for my 2010 WK still describes the cargo light as if it were a dome light. The manual states,

"If all doors are closed and only the liftgate is open, pushing on the cargo light lens surface will turn off all interior lights. Push on the lens surface a second time to restore the interior lights to normal operation."

This is how the dome cargo light operated on my previous Jeep models. However, this doesn't seem to work with the light in the liftgate. Is there another cargo light switch somewhere at the back of the WK that I'm overlooking, or is this just a misprint in the manual?

Sometimes I need to have the liftgate open for extended periods of time during the day, and I don't want the interior lights to remain on. What's the best way to turn them off so they don't drain the battery? Will they just turn off automatically as part of a battery-saving feature, and is this the best (or only) way to turn off the interior lights while keeping the liftgate open?
 
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#2 ·
The lights in my 2005 turn off after a few minutes on their own. I disconnected the bulb in the liftgate and wired in a warm-white led strip in the vent in the cargo area. Uses less power than the stock bulb and puts out usable light that matches the rest of the lights in color. There is a guide somewhere on here for which wires to splice into...it's super easy and id recommend that to everyone! It's cheap, too.

Pushing on the lens on the liftgate won't do anything. My old ZJ had the feature you describe but it is not on my wk for sure.

I don't know how long the lights stay on. Maybe just try it out on your own to see, it's only a few minutes. I normally leave the liftgate open so I can't recall if they shut off with a door open or not.
 
#3 ·
Interesting...that's an odd thing to have in the manual since there's no switch in the lift gate lamp.

As mentioned, the lights will go off after a short time on their own and will resume function if another door is opened. Alternatively, you can rotate the dimmer switch all the way back and it'll disable all interior lights until you rotate it back.
 
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